10 reasons why blog clutter is a bad thing

Posted by Ben on June 03, 2009 | Permalink | Hits: 1143 
Tags: clutter, design, layout, widgets

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Image by MadAboutCows.

Clutter refers to the various widgets, buttons, ads, animations and goodness knows what else that can be found on many blogs, in the areas not populated by content.

It's as if the blogger puts up a basic template, adds some content, then looks at a blank spot and says "I haven't filled that yet". So off they go to add yet another image or whatever else they could find.

Like it or not, there are many reasons why blog clutter is a bad thing. Let's go through 10 of those reasons.

1. It's distracting.

If I go to your blog and the sidebar is jam-packed with junk, it's going to be hard to read your posts without my eyes constantly drifting off to look at the junk. Wow, look at all these other blogs I can visit!

2. Too much clutter can overpower your content.

If you have more ads and widgets than content, something's not right. The focus of a blog should be the content, not the sidebars! Tell me, am I visiting your blog to look at the clutter, or your posts?

3. It affects load time.

OK, so let's get a few things clear. Some widgets load faster than others. Some readers may have slower connections than others. Some web hosts aren't particularly fast, either. Sometimes the Internet is just having a bad day. Load time is not something you can easily guarantee.

But one thing's for sure. If you cram every available space with every possible gadget, widget and squidget (I just made that up - someone go and register the domain name - I bet it's taken!), your blog is going to be S-L-O-W. That's not fun for anyone.

I've seen blogs that are still loading various bits and pieces after a whole minute of "transferring data from...". Nobody really waits that long - I just like to wait and see how long it takes before the browser says "Done"!

4. It can make browsers hang or crash.

Blogs with lots of widgets are one thing, but if your site causes my browser to temporarily stop working, or my browser crashes completely, I'm not coming back. There is no excuse. Test your site.

5. It provides little or no value to your readers.

Is it really important for your readers to know that your blog is worth $30,000? Do they need to see a scrolling list of other blogs? Maybe, but I think it's better to have a few ads than for dozens and dozens of blogs to scroll by. Animation is very distracting!

6. It often clashes with your theme.

How many widgets or gadgets allow you to customise the design so they match your theme? Some do, but most only provide very limited customisation options.

Even if you can customise them, most will not be a seamless fit. Anything that doesn't fit with the rest of your theme will stick out like a sore thumb.

If most of your clutter does this, you'll have a mess of differing styles that clash not only with your theme, but with each other.

7. It looks unprofessional.

This reason depends on the goals of your blog. Perhaps you're not too bothered about professionalism. However, if you are, ditch the clutter. Use what you need, and lose the rest.

8. If problems occur, it will be a nightmare to find the cause.

I've seen so many sites with popup ads, which are annoying enough - but what if you didn't realise the popup was appearing? If you have loads of clutter on your blog, how do you know which widget is causing the problem?

The same applies to browser slowness or crashes - it can take ages to find the culprit. Reduce your clutter and troubleshooting should be relatively trouble-free.

9. Too much clutter can cause excessive scrolling.

As a general rule, I try to keep the length of my sidebar shorter than the length of my content. This isn't always possible, such as on category pages where I only have a few posts.

But when viewing a post with comments beneath, your sidebar should not go all the way down the page. It looks silly, and just creates an unnecessarily long scrollbar.

10. It can prevent entry into sites you actually want to use.

Some blogging networks or directories may not allow blogs to sign up if they have popup ads or autoplaying audio. As mentioned above, you may run into difficulties if you have a problem but you're not sure what's causing it.

It's best to read the rules before you join, and solve any problems if you want to sign up. Some sites may have stricter rules than you're willing to abide by, in which case don't join those sites. But others have quite sensible rules that may actually help you to get more readers. Popup ads and autoplaying audio are two good examples of this. You may not mind them, but how do your readers feel?

Bonus Tip

I had to include this as a bonus tip, because it's not a reason why blog clutter is bad. Actually, it's quite the opposite. Not all widgets are bad. Some may create value for your readers, others may create value for you, but without negatively impacting your readers.

The main rule is not to overdo it. Try a few things at a time, and give them a chance to sink or swim. Then keep the best performing items and lose the rest.

What do you think? Do you have any clutter on your blog? Which widgets or gadgets work well for you? Are there any you could remove?

Comments on 10 reasons why blog clutter is a bad thing

8

Ben | June 17, 2009 | 180 comments

Thanks for all the comments! :)